As may be well known, in the operation of an extrusion press, a billet or slug of material is extruded through one or more orifices formed in a die supported by a die ring in the extrusion press. The forces on the die and die ring during an extrusion operation are significant and it is not uncommon that the die may be forced into a position within the die ring such that a significant mechanical force is required to separate the components. This action poses a problem under circumstances that one die is to be replaced by another die.
According to techniques commonly practiced in industry the die is separated from the die ring by hammering repeatedly on the surface of the die to effect its release from the die ring. To this end, the die and die ring are first removed from the extrusion press and the hammering action is carried out while the die ring is in the hand. The die and die ring, as may be apparent, oftentimes are quite heavy so that handling is difficult, and it is also not uncommon that the die and the die ring when they are removed from the extrusion press will have retained a measure of heat from the extrusion process. The fact that the components are hot adds to the difficulty in handling. Under these circumstances, it is likely that the die when it releases from the die ring will fall to the floor causing possible damage to the die structure. Damage to the die structure may also result from the hammering operation. And, the operations may result in injury to personnel.